{ "slug": "glass-glazing", "name": "Glass & Glazing", "in_level_book": true, "scores": { "resilience": 76.8, "leverage": 76.9, "trade_ai_score": 76.8, "quadrant": "safe-haven", "quadrant_label": "Safe Haven", "quadrant_desc": "Hard for AI to touch, but already efficient. Defend the moat; upside is incremental.", "resilience_rel": 65.6, "leverage_rel": 38 }, "subscores": { "resilience": { "physical_core": 88, "disintermediation": 72, "entry_barrier": 74, "switching_cost": 66 }, "leverage": { "coordination_drag": 80, "operating_leverage": 82, "revenue_expansion": 70, "data_amplification": 72 }, "basis": "Custom fabrication + install, project-driven, PM-referral relationships. Job-costing complexity = strong AI-leverage. Level customer vertical (San Mateo Glass)." }, "research": { "labor": { "median_hourly_wage_usd": 26.65, "median_wage_source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/glaziers.htm", "median_wage_year": "2024", "us_employment": 60500, "employment_source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/glaziers.htm", "projected_10yr_growth_pct": 3, "growth_source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/glaziers.htm", "labor_shortage_note": "52% of glass installers rank recruitment as their top labor challenge, and 86% of glass fabricators report hiring was as or more difficult in 2025 than in previous years.", "labor_shortage_source": "National Glass Association, 2025, https://www.glass.org" }, "market": { "industry_revenue_usd": 25200000000, "revenue_source": "IBISWorld, Glass & Glazing Contractors in the US, https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/glass-glazing-contractors-industry/", "revenue_year": "2026", "num_establishments": 28387, "establishments_source": "IBISWorld, Glass & Glazing Contractors in the US, https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/glass-glazing-contractors-industry/", "fragmentation_note": "The US Glass & Glazing Contractors industry is highly fragmented with low market share concentration, where no single enterprise holds a dominant share of the overall market.", "fragmentation_source": "IBISWorld, Glass & Glazing Contractors in the US, https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/glass-glazing-contractors-industry/" }, "economics": { "gross_margin_pct": 22.7, "gross_margin_source": "Apogee Enterprises, Inc., 2026 Form 10-K, https://www.sec.gov", "net_margin_pct": 4.88, "net_margin_source": "Apogee Enterprises, Inc., 2026 Form 10-K, https://www.sec.gov", "labor_pct_of_revenue": 24.77, "labor_pct_source": "U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census (NAICS 238150 Glass and Glazing Contractors), https://www.census.gov", "revenue_per_employee_usd": 229268, "rev_per_employee_source": "U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census (NAICS 238150 Glass and Glazing Contractors), https://www.census.gov" }, "cash_cycle": { "dso_days": 80, "dso_source": "Tecnoglass Inc., SEC Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022 (filed March 7, 2023), https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch", "retainage_pct": 10, "retainage_source": "Tecnoglass Inc., SEC Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022 (filed March 7, 2023), https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch", "days_to_payment": 83, "days_to_payment_source": "Levelset / Procore Construction Payment Report (2023), https://www.levelset.com/data/construction-payment-report-2022/", "cashflow_note": "According to Levelset survey data, only 12% of construction companies report always getting paid on time and 15% report being paid in full. Although nearly 90% of contractors offer payment terms of 30 days or fewer, fewer than 40% actually receive payment within 30 days. Furthermore, 40% of subcontractors wait more than 90 days to collect retainage. Reported impacts of slow payments include wasted administrative resources (45%), reduced overall project profit margins (41%), and inability to meet payroll on time (18%).", "cashflow_source": "Levelset 2022 Construction Cash Flow & Payment Report (2022), https://www.levelset.com/data/construction-payment-report-2022/" }, "ai_exposure": { "ai_resistant_work": "Physical, on-site trade labor in glass and glazing remains highly resistant to AI replacement due to the non-standardized, tactile, and high-risk conditions of field construction. Specific physical tasks hard for AI to replace include: field-measuring, custom site adjustments, and hands-on installation of heavy structural architectural glass, curtain walls, storefronts, and skylights; operating suction cranes, specialized glass handling equipment, and rigging on active jobsites; manual application of weatherproofing sealants and flashings; and evaluating real-time jobsite hazards at height. As highlighted in Glass Magazine (2023, 2026), human physical dexterity, haptic judgment, complex problem-solving on active construction sites, and safety oversight cannot be replicated by software or current robotics.", "automatable_work": "Back-office, preconstruction, coordination, and estimating workflows are the most automatable segments of the glazing trade. Highly automatable tasks include: automated blueprint takeoffs, opening schedule extraction, and window/door tag counting via optical character recognition (OCR) and computer vision; rapid cost estimation and proposal generation; checking building code, wind-load, and energy performance compliance; automated purchase order placement and stock replenishment based on material usage patterns; dynamic field scheduling and production capacity planning to predict shop bottlenecks; and customer inquiry processing. Tools like Togal.AI, Glazier Software, and Cyncly allow estimators and project managers to extract quantities and analyze contract drawings in minutes with over 97% accuracy.", "adoption_examples": "Documented AI adoption examples in the US glass and glazing trade include: (1) Glass Magazine Top 50 Glaziers Survey (2026) – Reports that over 33% of top U.S. contract glaziers actively use AI tools and 10% have implemented them company-wide, primarily leveraging AI during preconstruction for estimating and document review. (2) Guardian Glass (2025) – Launched 'Claria,' an interactive AI technical assistant that analyzes complex glass specs, regional building code requirements, and environmental performance data to recommend tailored glazing solutions. (3) AGC Inc. (2025) – Deployed AI computer-vision defect detection on flat glass production lines, achieving >95% inspection accuracy and cutting scrap waste by over 10%. (4) Cyncly (2024) – Built an AI Innovation Center to launch automated purchase order replenishment engines and intelligent production throughput monitoring for glass fabricators. (5) Togal.AI & Glazier Software (2024–2026) – Integrated AI takeoff and job performance tracking tools specifically designed for glazing contractors to automatically count window/door schedule tags directly from PDF plan sets.", "sources": [ "Glass Magazine (2026) - 'Top 50 Glaziers Survey: Glazing firms begin to adopt AI for office tasks', https://www.glassmagazine.com/article/top-50-glaziers-2026", "Glass Magazine (2024) - Ron Crowl, 'The Future of AI in the Glass Industry', https://www.glassmagazine.com/article/future-ai-glass-industry", "Glass Magazine (2023) - Matt Johnson, 'Artificial Intelligence Has the Potential to Streamline Design, Bidding, Procurement, Safety and Scheduling', https://www.glassmagazine.com/article/artificial-intelligence-has-potential-streamline-design-bidding-procurement-safety-and-scheduling", "USGlass Magazine (2025) - 'Guardian Glass Launches AI Assistant Claria for Product Selection', https://www.usglassmag.com/", "Glazier Software (2026) - Amanda, 'How AI Takeoff Works and AI in Glazing', https://www.glaziersoftware.com", "DigitalDefynd (2025) - 'Use of AI in the Glass Industry: 5 Case Studies (AGC, Guardian Glass)', https://digitaldefynd.com/", "Togal.AI (2024) - 'AI Takeoff Software for Glazing, Windows & Doors', https://www.togal.ai" ] }, "ma_consolidation": { "consolidation_activity": "Yes, the US Glass & Glazing trade is undergoing active private equity consolidation and buy-and-build roll-ups across both glass fabrication and contract glazing/installation. Institutional investors and PE-backed platform companies are systematically acquiring fragmented regional fabricators and glazing contractors to expand geographic reach, achieve purchasing power with raw material suppliers, invest in automated machinery/software, and capture market share in architectural building envelope services.", "typical_ebitda_multiple": "Acquisition multiples range from 2.9x to 4.2x EBITDA for smaller local glass and glazing shops, 5.7x to 7.1x EBITDA for lower-middle-market specialty trade contractors ($10M–$100M total enterprise value), and up to 9.0x–10.9x EBITDA for larger platform-scale building products and contract glazing companies.", "multiple_source": "Peak Business Valuation (2025) reports 2.92x to 4.24x EBITDA for small glass and glazing contractors; GF Data (2026) reports NAICS 238 Specialty Trade Contractors cohort averages of 5.7x ($10M–$25M TEV), 6.1x ($25M–$50M TEV), and 7.1x ($50M–$100M TEV); Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. / Glass Magazine (2020) and PCE Investment Bankers (2026) report lower-middle-market and platform-level building products multiples between 9.0x and 10.93x EBITDA.", "notable_acquirers_or_deals": "Notable PE platforms and deals include: Transom Capital Group's acquisition of Binswanger Glass (2025); The Sterling Group's creation of AGS (American Glass Services) through the acquisition of Omni Glass & Paint (2025); Trulite Glass & Aluminum Solutions (backed by Sun Capital) acquiring Insulite Glass and American Insulated Glass; Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope acquiring Midwest Glass Fabricators and Syracuse Glass Company; Saothair Capital Partners acquiring Pioneer Window (2024); Cross Rapids Capital acquiring All Glass & Windows (2025); and Stellex Capital Management acquiring Custom Glass Solutions.", "sources": [ "Peak Business Valuation (2025), 'Glass and Glazing Business Multiples', https://peakbusinessvaluation.com/valuation-multiples-for-glass-and-glazing-contractors/", "TM Capital (2025), 'M&A Trends in Glass Fabrication & Glazing', https://tmcapital.com/report/ma-trends-in-glass-fabrication-glazing/", "Glass Magazine / Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. (2020), 'Consolidation Has Reshaped the Glass Supply Chain', https://glassmagazine.com/article/consolidation-has-reshaped-glass-supply-chain", "CT Acquisitions / GF Data / PCE Investment Bankers (2026), 'Glass and Glazing Business Valuation & M&A Guide', https://ctacquisitions.com/glass-and-glazing-business-valuation/" ] }, "tech_stack": { "dominant_fsm_software": "Field service management (FSM) and trade operations software widely adopted by US glass & glazing contractors include trade-tailored solutions like Smart Glazier Business, GlassManager, Glazier Software, and FieldPulse, alongside general construction and trade FSM systems such as ServiceTitan, Simpro, Projul, and Jobber.", "common_accounting_software": "QuickBooks (QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop) is the predominant accounting platform for small-to-midsize glazing contractors, while larger commercial contract glaziers frequently rely on enterprise construction accounting platforms such as Sage (Sage 100 Contractor and Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate).", "adoption_or_integration_note": "According to Glass Magazine's Top 50 Glaziers industry surveys, 67% of top glazing contractors reported investing in new software, and 58% made software a primary capital acquisition. However, industry trade press notes a persistent field-to-accounting integration gap: many glass businesses still rely on manual data entry, spreadsheets, or batch exports between field estimating/scheduling tools and accounting software, creating operational bottlenecks and cost-tracking delays.", "sources": [ "Glass Magazine (National Glass Association), 'Higher sales, tighter margins and a volatile horizon: the state of the Top 50 Glaziers' (2026), https://www.glassmagazine.com/article/top-50-glaziers-2026", "Glass Magazine / MY Shower Door, 'MY Shower Door Recognized Among Top 50 Glaziers' citing NGA Top 50 Glaziers Survey (2022), https://myshowerdoor.com/inc-5000-recognizes-two-daubmann-family-businesses/", "Glazier Software, 'Why Glass Companies Need More Than Just QuickBooks' (2025), https://www.glaziersoftware.com/blog/quickbooks-integration-for-glaziers", "Smart Glazier Software, 'Field Management Software for Glaziers' (2025), https://smartglazier.com/field-management-software-for-glaziers/", "Worldmetrics / Software Advice, 'Top 10 Best Glass Company Software' (2026), https://worldmetrics.org/software/glass-company-software/" ] } }, "market_structure": { "permits": [], "seasonality": [], "size_tiers": [], "top_states": [] }, "reputation": { "available": false, "note": "Insufficient public review-listing coverage to publish a reliable per-trade reputation aggregate." }, "firmographics": { "available": true, "source": "Aggregated public business firmographic records (multi-source SMB dataset). Revenue/employee/age/employer-rating distributions per trade. Aggregate only; no individual company identified.", "n_companies": 833, "revenue_usd": { "n": 367, "p25": 6500000, "median": 14233314, "p75": 26099358, "p90": 40100000 }, "employees": { "n": 193, "p25": 40, "median": 63, "p75": 87, "p90": 137 }, "founded_year_median": 2000, "employer_rating_avg": 3.63, "employer_rating_n": 215, "top_states": [] }, "level_published": null, "comps": [ { "ticker": "AGX", "name": "Argan, Inc.", "return_6m_pct": 34.2, "return_1y_pct": 165.3, "gross_margin_pct": 20.74, "ev_ebitda": 47.28, "market_cap_billions": 8.44 }, { "ticker": "PGTI", "name": "PGT Innovations, Inc.", "return_6m_pct": null, "return_1y_pct": null, "gross_margin_pct": 39.3, "ev_ebitda": 10.9, "market_cap_billions": 2.4 } ] }